This
course involves supervised research training in political science.† The research activities may involve the
planning, design, data-gathering, and/or analysis phases of political science
research.† Registration in the course is limited† to students admitted to either the MA or
Ph.D. degree programs in Political Science.

Students may enroll
in POLS 590 for several purposes:

(1)†† After achieving candidacy, a doctoral
candidate must register for 3 hours of 590 every semester until their
dissertation director and committee have approved his/her dissertation
proposal.

(2)†† To satisfy the Catalog-specified
requirements, an M.A. student must register for at least 3 hours and a Ph.D.
student must register for at least 6 hours of POLS 590.† M.A. students may count no more than 3 hours
of POLS 590 toward the M.A. minimum 30 hours. M.A. students would logically
register for POLS 590 in the semester they are working on one or more starred
papers, or an M.A. thesis.† While an
M.A. student may use POLS 590 for a part of a thesis project, he or she must
register for at least 1 hour of POLS 599, Thesis (cf. Graduate Catalog 2005,
pg. 227)

†

(3)†† In addition to the term in which a doctoral
candidate is working on his/her dissertation proposal, a doctoral student may
use POLS 590 registrations for his/her dissertation research process.† Doctoral students may repeat POLS 590 to a
maximum of 24 credit hours.† The students
should consult with his/her dissertation director about the advisability of
POLS 590 registration because one may enroll in POLS 590 for as few as 1 hour
per semester and POLS 590 does not trigger a requirement for continuous
registration through Ph.D. degree completion.

(4)†† Students who wish to conduct a
research-based independent study may register for

POLS 590, i.e., as
an alternative to POLS 596.

(5)†† Particularly doctoral students in their
second or third year should work with their advisors to prepare conference
papers, book reviews, sponsored research reports, journal publication, or
related research products as part of their preparation for professional
research careers.† If a student has not
attended a professional disciplinary or field conference, it is beneficial to
attend such a conference as preparation for presenting a paper at a subsequent
conference.† Similarly, preparation of a
research-based lecture for job interviews is analogous to preparation of a
conference paper, and attendance at a graduate colloquium lecture series (e.g.,
the CSEAS Brown Bag Lecture series) is analogous to attending an extramural
conference.

(6)††† Students regularly conduct research for a
supervising faculty member or principal investigator, either as a graduate
assistant to political science faculty or as a research assistant at units such as the Regional Development
Institute or the American Farmland Trust.

Students awarded a
full political science departmental assistantship are normally required
to enroll for 12 credits during the fall or spring semesters.† Such students may enroll in POLS 590 as a
fourth course.† However, a student
teaching an independent section of an undergraduate course or serving as a
discussion section T.A. in POLS 100 should normally register for POLS 591.

Students begin the
course by completing the POLS 590 Agreement Form.† The Department reserves the right to cancel the registration of
any student whose Agreement form has not been approved by the POLS 590
Instructor, the supervising faculty member, and the DOGS or Chair by the Monday
of the second week of the term.† The
POLS 590 instructor will then coordinate the research plan with the student and
the faculty member supervising the starred paper, thesis, dissertation,
independent study, conference paper, or other research project.†

Students
should be familiar with the university's and Department's policies regarding
withdrawal from courses and academic honesty.†
As a research project course, academic integrity will be strictly
expected; please see the departmentís policy at pages 26-27 of the departmentís
Graduate Handbook 2005-06.† The
course is graded on an S/U basis.† The
departmental policy allows "incomplete" grades in POLS 590 only in
extraordinary circumstances.

NIU abides by
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which mandates reasonable
accommodations be provided for qualified students with disabilities. If you
have a disability and may require some type of instructional and/or examination
accommodation, please contact us early in the semester so that we can provide
or facilitate in providing accommodations you may need. If you have not already
done so, you will need to register with the Center for† Access‑Ability Resources (CAAR), the
designated office on campus to provide services and administer exams with
accommodations for students with disabilities. The CAAR office is

located on the 4th
floor of the University Health Services building (815‑753‑1303). We
look forward to talking with you soon to learn how we may be helpful in
enhancing your academic success in this course.